Circuit breakers are commonly used for providing automatic circuit interruption upon detection of undesired overcurrent conditions on the circuit being monitored. These overcurrent conditions include, among others, overload conditions, ground faults and short-circuit conditions. Circuit breakers typically include an electrical contact on a movable arm which rotates away from a stationary contact in order to interrupt the current path. In response to an overcurrent condition, circuit breakers generally move the arm to break the current path by tripping a spring-biased latch mechanism which forces the arm and its contact away from the fixed contact.
Circuit breakers typically include a handle which allows an operator to operate the circuit breaker and which indicates the present operating mode of the circuit breaker (e.g., "on", "off", "tripped", or "reset"). A drawback of some existing circuit breaker handles is that they do not allow for automated assembly because the handle will not stay in position during assembly without the circuit breaker cover in place. Another drawback of some handles is that they may improperly move while being operated. Yet another drawback of some handles is that they fail to prevent an operator from coming in contact with internal components of the circuit breaker while operating the handle.
Accordingly, there is a need for a handle assembly for a circuit breaker which overcomes the above-mentioned deficiencies of the prior art.